Crystals/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A boy, Tim, and a robot, Moby, explore a cave. Tim shines his flashlight on the wall and finds a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. There is a handwritten note below the letter. TIM: Hey Bob, Could you do an experiment with crystals?? That would be awesome!! Thanks!! From ExPx. Dear Tim, Please do a movie on crystals so I can do my experiment. From, Bob. TIM: Well, this should make Bob happy. Most people think of jewelry when they hear the word "crystal." Images show a red ruby, a diamond ring, and a pearl necklace. TIM: But there are lot of other types of crystals too, found all over the place. An image shows crystals. TIM: We even eat crystals. Salt, sugar, and baking soda are all crystals. An image shows a sugar bowl and boxes of baking soda and salt. TIM: Technically, a crystal is any solid whose molecules are arranged in an ordered, repeating pattern. An image shows a variety of crystals. TIM: More commonly, people usually talk about crystals when they mean to say a mineral with some geometric shape to it. In fact, most solids are made up of lots of tiny crystals. If you look at a rock closely you may be able to see them. Moby looks closely at a green solid he's holding in his hand. TIM: Crystals can be made from different elements; diamonds are made from carbon, and salt is made from sodium and chlorine. A crystal's color is determined by the elements mixed in. Quartz can be transparent, milky white, pink, yellow, or even purple when they have a lot of iron in them. An image shows quartz in the variety of colors Tim describes. TIM: The shape of the crystal depends on the way the elements group themselves together. Crystals actually grow in orderly geometric shapes as new atoms join the organized crystal lattice. An animation shows atoms being added to a grid and forming a geometric shape. TIM: The individual atoms combine in regular geometric shapes; shapes which repeat themselves in the shape of the large crystal. Side by side images show the large crystal and the geometric lattice that formed it. TIM: Those shapes aren't so obvious in tiny rock or salt crystals, but crystals that grow freely in rock cavities and caves are bigger and more precise in shape. Images show rocks, salt crystals, and large crystals growing out of rocks. TIM: The atoms are arranged so perfectly that crystals break along clean lines called cleavage. An image illustrates the lines creating cleavage. TIM: There are seven main types of crystals: isometric, trigonal, hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic. Images show the crystals Tim describes in outline and solid forms. TIM: Scientists use x-rays to examine the "crystal lattice" of a particular specimen and place the crystal into one of those groups. An image shows an x-ray of a crystal lattice. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, real nice. I don't know if rubies are you. Moby is wearing ruby earrings. TIM: There are also liquid crystals that are like gels with both liquid and solid qualities. An image shows a liquid crystal. TIM: They're used in things like calculators and CD players. An image shows a calculator. TIM: By running an electrical current through layers of these crystals you can cause them to display letters, numbers, and images. Moby? Moby appears, wearing a scary mask. TIM: Ahh. Cave Monster! MOBY: Beep. Moby can't remove the mask from his head. TIM: Well, now you've done it. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Science Transcripts